Another PhD supported by Rapita Systems

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Congratulations are in order to Dr Javier Fernandez Salgado, who recently defended his doctoral studies, during which he used RVS tools to verify the timing behavior of software set to launch on the Solar Orbiter in 2018.

The Solar Orbiter mission hopes to explore fundamental questions about how the Sun creates and maintains the heliosphere, the bubble-like region of space around the Sun. This mission will involve the spacecraft approaching to within a quarter of the Sun-Earth distance (~0.22 AU). As such, the most cutting-edge technology is required for its systems, and we are proud that our RVS tools are a part of this.

As detailed in our case study, we have been working closely with the Space Research Group at the University of Alcala in Madrid. As part of this group, Javier has been using our RVS tools to determine the timing behavior of software written for the Energetic Particle Detector (EPD), the suite of proton, electron and ion detectors on-board the Solar Orbiter. By using a version of RapiTime that we sponsored the Space Research Group with, Javier was able to ensure the correct timing behavior of EPD software.

Guillem Bernat, the CEO of Rapita Systems Ltd, recently attended the University of Alcala as a member of the examination board for Javier, who was defending his thesis, titled "The verification and validation process for software on-board a satellite: a strategy based on composition properties".

We are pleased to announce that Javier successfully defended his thesis against his 5 examiners, and was awarded the best mark possible, sobresaliente.